Improvement in hand corn-planters



S. Z. SHORES.

Hand Seeder.

lPatented Jul-y2, 1861.

wASHxNGYoN D C N PETERS,

`UNITED STATES S. Z. SHORES, OF TOWANDA, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN HAND CORN-'PLNTERS.

Speciflcationforming part of Letters Patent No. 32,725, dated July 2,1861.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, S. Z. Snonns, of Towanda, in the county of Bradfordand State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and Improved HandCorn-Planter; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had totheaccompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which-Figure l is a vertical transverse section through the improved planter,showing the interior thereof. Fig. 2 shows the back part of the planter.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in bothfigures.

The nature of my invention consists in constructin g the seed-case withthree sides Inova- 4ble and with a vibrating opener at the bottom of thestationary side of the case, which is operated by depressing the movableportion of the case, as will be hereinafter described, and in combiningwith that portion of the seedcase which is movable a seed-droppin gdevice, which is connected with the stationary portion of the seed-caseby means of jointed arms, the whole being so arranged that the desirednumber of grains of corn will be planted each time the lower end of themachine is pressed into the earth, as will be hereinafter described.

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to describe its construction and operation.

The seed-case is an oblong quadrilateral box, consisting of threemovable sides, A A A, and a stationary side, B, the latter of which issomewhat longer than the former, and its lower end is tapered to apoint, so as to readily enter the soil. The portion B is quite thick,and its inside surface is curved so as to form achannel, a, throughthe-center ofthe case, through which the corn is dropped. The lowertapering end of portion B lls up the space in the lower end of the case,and a vertical hole, a', through this end of portion B forms acommunication with thelower part of channel a. The lower end of portionB is also slotted to receive a curved tongue portion, c, which ispivoted in its slot at b, Figs. 1 and 2, to the portion B. This curvedtongue C serves as a kind of valve for shutting up the lower end of thehole a when the machineis elevated from the ground, and for forming asuitable opening in the soil for the reception of the seed, at the sametime allowing the seed to drop when the machine .is depressed, as wil-lbe hereinafter explained.' Apin, c, passes transversely th rough thetongue C, a suitable distance above its lower end, and throughtransverse slots c in each side of the portion B, also throughobliqueslots d d through the sides of the side portions A A oftheseedcase. of the 'seed-case are depressed, the oblique slots through thesides A A force the pin c, and consequently its tongue C, outward, asshown in red lines, Fig. l of the drawings. Then, when the machine israised, so as to release the movable portion A A A of the case, the

helical spring E raises the movable portion and causes the oblique slotsd d to force the tongue O back again intoits place, as shown in blacklines. Fig. l. The helical spring E, which returns the parts back totheir places after the machine has been depressed, is attached at oneend to the edge of one side A of the movable portion ofthe case, and atthe other end spring E is attached to the back of the stationary pieceB, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The pins e e pass transversely through theportion B and through vertical slots ff, which are made through thesides A A of the movable portion of the case and keep the piece B inplace, and at the same time allow the portion A A A of the case toreceive a vertical play the length of the slots ff.

F represents a straight handle, which is attached to the back edges andat the upper ends of sides A A, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The side Alis connected to the sides AA by nails or screws, so that the corn putinto the channel a at the top of the case will not be allowed to escape,except at the lower end of the case, when the machine is depressed andthe tongue C thrown out. The channel a curves toward the side Al at g,where the portion B is slightly swelled, as shown in Fig.' 1, andopposite t0 the swell g of side B a circular dropping device, G, ispivoted, which has a large and a small seed-cup formed into itsperiphery. This seed-dropper Gis keyed to a short shaft, g',

which' passes transversely across two ears formed on the edges of sidepieces A A, and the dropper G is of such a diameter as to pass through ahole through the side A and nearly touch the upper edge of the swelledsurface y. One end ofthe shaft g projects out from the side of the case,and to this project- Now, when the movable sides A A A.

ing end a short arm, h, is fixed, to the outer end of which arm a rod,t', is pivoted, which rod is again pivoted to the projecting end of pine. Now, by means of the arm h and con necting-rod i the circular portionG receives a rocking motion when the machine is depressed and raised,and this rocking movement given to portion G Will cause it to drop seedfrom the upper portion of channel a into the lower portion of thischannel. The seed-cup 7c in portion G is of a suitable size to containthe vnumber of grains it is desired to plant at one time, and thisseed-cupio receives the corn from the upper part of the seed-channel aand deposits itin the lower part of this channel a.

- The rocking portion G is furnished with two seed-cups, one of which islarger and will contain more seed than the other. Either one of theseseed-cups mayr be used, according to the number of' grains it is desiredto plant at one time.

The operation of my improved machine is as follows: When the upper partof the channel a is lilledV with corn the machine is ready for use. Theperson who is to plant the corn takes hold ot' the handle F, and as hewalks over the field he pushes the lower end of the machine down intothe soil a suitable depth, and thus drops the corn at regular intervalsover the field. Vhen the machine is depressed and the tapering end ofportion B pushed into the earth, the movable portion A A A of the caseis depressed and the tongue C forced outward at its lower end, so as todrop the grains ot' corn, which are at the same time dropped from thecup k in portion G.` When the machine is raised the spring E draws theportion A A. A back to its place, and the tongue Gis instantly closed.At the same time v the portionG is turned until the cup 7c is in aposition to be filled again with corn from the upper part of `thechannel a, to be dropped again into the 'tion toswell g of side B, andoperating in harmony with the tongue O, as herein described and shown. n

S. Z. SHORES.

Witnesses:

N. N. BETTs, J. Woon.

